Rotary tiller
Rotary tiller
The rotary tiller or milling or hoeing machine is a tool used in agriculture for certain agronomic processes and is operated by a power take-off connected to the cardan shaft by the tractor.
The uses of the tiller can be the most varied but, generally, it can be used for the preparation of the soil before hosting a herbaceous crop, such as wheat, corn, etc. or to refine the seedbed or even as a tool to control weeds in orchards and vineyards, working the inter-row both in the row and in the inter-row depending on how the plants have been arranged.
The operation of the cutter is somewhat simple. In it, the movement transmitted by the power take-off passes to the cardan shaft that transmits it through shaped gears to a horizontal shaft where hoes or knives are fixed.
It is possible to adjust the speed of the hoes or knives by increasing the speed of the PTO of the tractor; in this case the speed will allow to make the soil finer provided that it is in perfect tempera.
At the rear of the cutter there is a carter that prevents clods shattered by the work of the cutter from being “thrown” outwards with danger for the driver of the machine.
The working depth of the cutter is superficial, never exceeding 30-35 centimeters.
Among the merits of the work carried out with the cutter we mention:
– perfect control over non-rhizomatous weeds;
– the possibility of perfectly refining the soil before sowing;
– the possibility of burying the residues of the previous crop, such as corn stalks, wheat stubble, etc.
Defects include:
– to create a “working sole”, caused by the rotation of the hoes, or a semi-impermeable and tenacious layer where the water does not drain and the roots of the herbaceous crops struggle to penetrate;
– to make rhizomatous plants such as bermuda grass proliferate more as it forms dozens of small pieces of weed, each of which will form a new plant.
There are different types of cutters on the market, especially as a function of power and working width, as well as some mechanical solutions that allow the possibility of combined works, such as sowing and in the way the tool is connected to the tractor.